Simone Weil

Every time that we say "Thy will be done," we should have in mind all possible missfortunes added together. This is what Simone said and our author states "all blessings" as well. We always focus on the Blessing part and in the past few years I have come to realize that the blessings are a mixed bag. My Mother always told us to be careful of what you pray for because you just may get it. I know that a lot of people are told this and it took me a long time to realize what the implications of this are. I do prefer the missfortunes of "Thy will be done" because I recieve the best lessons from them. Our most painful experiences tend to be the ones that have the biggest reward whaen all is over. Again I say "Find the good in each harsh experience". You may find that that is the answer to your prayer.

Isaac of Nineveh

I really enjoy the forwards to a lot of our readings. 'One plus one equals one". When this statement is read after the opposites are made clear for you it is easy to understand that they are one. Good can not exist without bad and up and down like a tedder-todder. I have always badgered my parents with this idea. I used to babble on in the car about it. The in and out of the waves is also a way that I experience this oneness. I was always taought this balance by my Mom. She said " always find the good in a bad situation" and when I reflect and focus on that good part it always makes the ugly part not quite so bad. Balance, it's all about balance.

Hugh of St. Victor

I spent a lot of summers on the ocean with my family. and this ending really sums it up for me. "Happy is he who escapes unharmed from that storm-tossed sea, and reaches the safety of the port!" Here Hugh has us on the sea with the wind in our sails and Symeon has us in the sea looking like God. Water is a mystery to me. I like being in both places. On the sea I smell and hear and see all that is before and behind me. I tack back and forth as I move towards my destination. I sit on the bow and ride the waves on the vessal. I know that I will reach the prot because I have the greatest of Captains at the helm. In the sea I am the vessal. I am not able to see or smell but I can still hear. Long sounds that feel like they come from far way. For what ever reason I feel less safe her in the water than on it. How do I manage to stay unharmed. I don't.

Symeon the new Theologian

The paragraph about the sea resonates with me. I love his use of words like "dive, plunge, and vision". I love the way it feel to be fully in the water. It is such a weightless place. I never thought about god being like the sea. It is boyant and dark as well as constantly moving. I think my trips to the river this year are going to have new meaning.
Jason talked about the humility of the Tao. How it is like water, the softest thing on earth and yet the force that moves earth and dissolves rocks. Here I read the same thing. I hope to look at life through the vision of God like I am immersed in the softness of my creator, allowing it to dissolve all my firm resolutions.

Blake

Proverbs of Hell: I laughed and I reflected. These read to me like a bunch of "one liners". "The cistern contains: the fountain overflows". Is this about polarity? The Yin/Yang dynamic seems to be him evening out his mind. For this there is that. "The most sublime act is to set another before you." This is parenting. We are no longer exclusively "me" because "me" is now "we". Why does he title this Proverbs of Hell? Most of these phrases are so beautiful they can't be hell. My favorite is "Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius". Society has often looked at the "new idea" as being totally absurd. Without those that are absurd we would not have the inventions we have today but are the fine tuned inventions really the best thing for us? "Where man is not, nature is barren." This comes from a man who knows that men have a purpose. I could not imagine for the centuries past how hard it must have been for males to know that there was a bonified reason for their existance. If humans were not able to figure out that it is a man's sperm that impregnates a woman, would men still feel like "Why am I here, when females have babies and we don't"? As I keep writing I am beginning to understand Blake's Proverbs of Hell title.

Kafka

These writings were very interesting to me. "The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary." This is profound for how many times do we need something and we find a way to do with out then it appears. In times like these a enjoy in the humor of God. How funny he is.
I would have to agree to his idea that humans have two great sins, both lead to the one, impatience. I never thought about how to return or if we can. Could it be that simple. I am a very impatient person and it has been a great challenge for me this Lenten season to work on this one. I have fallen off my path of calm behavior as did Jesus with His cross. Impatience has kept me from finding peace and that could be what happened in the Garden. Due to thier impatience they lost peace.

Heraclitus

"You can't step twice into the same river". This is the perfect reminder that nothing remains the same. You are at the river with loved ones and playing in the water. Swimming upstream and walking on the shore are the way that you are sharing in the beauty of creation. As you swim, you pass a leaf floating downstream. Then you float downstream. As you start your way back up to jump off a rock, you see that leaf is gone. This is not the same river you were just floating down because that leaf is a new one and it is from a different tree. The ebb and flow of life becomes very clear. That frog is new and that Hawk just landed in a tree. Tomorrow the river will be different and it is going to be a great day.